


Out of the Woods

by focusly



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 00:36:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20144635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/focusly/pseuds/focusly
Summary: Harry spends his first Christmas after the war with the Weasleys. The war has left scars, both seen and unseen.





	Out of the Woods

Christmas week could not come soon enough for Harry. He had been working for the Auror's office almost for several months now - for, not in, a small but significant distinction. His direct boss, the deputy head Auror, had had him working long hours trying to piece together old and new case file notes or Aurors missing or dead in preparation for death eater trials to start at the beginning of the new year. While Harry initially bristled at the idea of performing what he thought of as menial tasks, he couldn't help but admit the sheer amount of work to be done filled his otherwise empty days, forcing time to move forward even as he felt stuck in place. One day at a time, he often told himself. One foot in front of the other.

Harry found himself increasingly going back and forth in his mind at the prospect of moving out of the burrow. He knew he had to eventually and indeed, on his darkest days when he was working on particularly grim and grisly cases, all he wanted was to come home to a dark quiet place where he could be left alone to brood over his thoughts with a bottle of firewhiskey. Other days, he was glad to come to Molly's welcoming arms and the warmth of a house filled with love. Even though they hadn't mentioned anything directly to him yet, he knew Ron and Hermione were talking together in hushed whispers behind his back about moving in together once she finished school. Deep down, as much as he tried to deny it to himself, he was afraid of being completely alone and adrift. For now though, he tucked those insecurities into a box to be left in the farthest corners of his mind to be unpacked in some indeterminable future date as he and Ron helped Molly prepare the house to be filled with family.

The first ones to arrive were Bill and Fleur, followed shortly after by Charlie. Molly made quick work of all of her sons to put up the Christmas tree, though despite all the magical interventions they could think of it still favored its right side. Harry thought it was perfect. Arthur was rather giddy to decorate with an item he had just recently confiscated at the ministry - a string of muggle Christmas lights. It wasn't until the men of the house their used several different and often contradictory sticking charms to tack it to the uneven roof of the house that Arthur realized it needed to be plugged in. They ended up leaving the end dangling from the back of the house where no one could see it and admitted to themselves the colors looked just as pretty in the day time as they would have been if they were lit up at night.

The day that Harry most looked forward to, of course, was the day that the Hogwarts train would be rolling into the station, and when the day came he was so anxious he barely had an appetite for breakfast. It was true he and Ginny had been able to see each other on Hogsmeade visits, but he was about to spend a whole holiday with her, several uninterrupted days in a row, in the same house, - he choked on his suddenly dry toast.

"You all right, mate?" Ron's laughter shone in his eyes.

"Fine, thank you." Harry mumbled as he fumbled with the butter dish.

"Harry, dear," Molly interrupted, impervious to the previous scene as she sat down with a steaming cup of tea, "Do you mind helping Charlie pull the Christmas decorations down from the attic? It's so dark and stuffed full of Arthur's old stuff I doubt any one person could do it. I'd have my other sons do it but Bill said he has some loose ends he needs to tie up at Gringott's, and with Ron going to Hermione's parents' house for the next few days..." she trailed off.

Harry shrunk under Molly's scrutinizing gaze. He knew it wasn't a question. Admittedly, what he really wanted to do - sweep her off the train platform and snog the daylights out of her - probably wouldn't go as smoothly as he envisioned it in his head. For one, Ginny would probably punch him for surprising her like that, and secondly, the chosen one would probably attract all sorts of unwanted attention for the poor Weasleys. Maybe Molly thought his presence would be too much of a bother and that's why she didn't want him to come with them. Ron's loud crunching invaded his thoughts and when Harry made to give him the stink eye Ron just raised his eyebrows.

"I'd be glad to help, Molly." The words rolled off his lips as his stomach sank into his lap.

"Thank you, Harry, dear, I really appreciate all the help you've been around here. I don't know what I'd do without you." She gave his cheek a light pat before getting up. Ron waited until she left the room before piping up.

"Guess that makes you officially a member of the family now." He started to get up too, piling his dirty dishes together.

"Run away while you still can." He said he passed his best friend on his way out.

"Oh, bugger off."

***

"So I hear you fancy my sister." Charlie's low, deep voice seemed to rumble across the attic. Harry attempted to wipe the dust off of his arms, frowning as that seemed somehow to generate more dirt.

"Er - I guess you could say that." Not comfortable with discussing the subject with her older brother, Harry turned to another stack of boxes. Molly must've used the extension charm in order to fit all of these boxes up here, he thought. They had been working for what seemed like hours and had only found a few of what Charlie swore were many more.

"Now don't you start either," he said to the family ghoul as it rounded the corner. The ghoul wailed unintelligibly in response and went back the way it came.

"You're a braver man than I am, Potter." Charlie reached above Harry for a box at the top of the nearest pile and peeled open the top of it. "Ah ha! I think we've finally found the Christmas horde. Help me get the rest of it."

"How long have you two been going together?" Harry almost dropped the box he had just grabbed on to his toes. Even though he and Ginny hadn't officially told anyone they were back together, he had forgotten that there still people who watched them from a distance.

"My sixth year. We kind've took a break when I had to go defeat Voldemort." Charlie let loose a grunt that Harry wasn't sure how to interpret. He picked up another box, unprepared for how heavy it was compared to the others, and mentally tried to go through all the charms he knew in an effort to remember a load lightening charm.

"You think she's the one?" Harry dumped the container with the others, bending over with his hands on his knees to try and catch his breath. He was still getting used to Charlie's abruptness. He didn't speak often, but when he did, he never minced words. He figured he had two options - he could either lie his way out of it or try and change the subject, but he knew there was no point in lying and the quietest Weasley member would see right through him if he didn't acknowledge the question.

"I do." Harry looked Charlie square in the eyes, his jaw set and determined, steeling himself for any pushback. Charlie just nodded.

"Harry... I know we're all in a right state right now, and I know you probably want to fix everyone's hurts. Right what's wrong. But you can't heal everyone's pain, Harry. Some things just take time to heal on their own." Charlie's voice dropped to an almost indiscernible whisper. "Maybe conquering the dark lord was the easy part."

Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of that. The Weasleys were the strongest family he knew, and while he knew they didn't come out of the war unscathed - nobody did - they still held together as strongly as he ever knew them. Even death couldn't tear them apart, it seemed.

"Just... be patient with all of us, ok? We'll get there eventually." The older man let out a long, slow sigh, and for a brief moment the irritation that had built up in Harry over Charlie’s evasiveness ebbed away as he saw the troubled look flash across Charlie's face. The moment was soon gone however as Charlie clapped his hands together and turned back to the spoils they came for.

"What say instead of carrying these down several flights of stairs we just levitate them down?"

***

The next few days were a blur of waking up to a warm house, the creaking sounds of the old house under their feet as they descended into savory smells of Molly's cooking drifting up from the kitchen, the taste and feel of Ginny's lips on his when they were able to steal away under the trees in the afternoons, their noses red with the bitter cold. It had been a long time since Harry had any truly private time with Ginny, and even longer since he had spent any time without Ron or Hermione, but he found he did not miss them quite as much as he thought he would when he had Ginny's hand in his, discreet looks when they thought no one else was looking, and the lightness in his chest that he felt whenever she smiled at him.

With each passing day, however, he became acutely aware of the growing tension in the household as neither Percy nor George made an appearance. George moved out shortly after Fred's funeral to hermited himself away in the joke shop, and the only one who had any regular contact with him was Ron, who spent his evenings trying to help pick up the shop. Ron had told them that George was in bad shape and rarely ventured out, not wanting to talk to anyone, and Harry knew that hurt Molly the most. Harry also knew from Arthur and Molly's hushed conversations when they thought the rest of the household was asleep that Percy also had limited contact with his parents, even though he still worked in the ministry like his father.

On Christmas Eve, Molly was a nervous wreck, decorating with a full speed frenzy the likes of which Harry had never seen before. Even if every inch of the burrow was covered in decoration she would somehow still room for more somewhere. She made a flimsy excuse that she didn't want Ron and Hermione to come back to a house that wasn't ready for them. Bill and Charlie tried to get her to sit down for a few minutes but she just snapped at them. No one bothered her after that.

The evening settled into an uneasy peace. Andromeda had stopped by, marvelling at the wall to wall adornments, while Molly showed baby Teddy the Christmas tree, though he was more interested in chewing her finger. Harry and Ginny were situated shoulder to shoulder on the sitting room floor as she tried to show him how to make paper chains, and Harry could hear the newspaper shaking from the couch behind him as Arthur's foot shook in tiny, rapid movements.  
A knock on the door made everyone turn their head. Arthur carefully folded and set his newspaper aside before moving to get the door. Charlie turned off the radio that had been blaring in the background.

"Hello... everyone. S-sorry to be late. Not too late, I hope? You'll never guess who I found drinking at the Leaky earlier. I don't go there often, mind you, or at all, but today seemed like a fitting day for two poor souls I guess and well... here we are. Pretty serendipitous, if you don't mind me saying."

"Oh, just shut up already."

"George! Percy!" Arthur beckoned them in. "You're just in time. Your mother still has some Christmas Eve dinner left out for you. Don't you dear?"

Molly seemed frozen to her spot. "Of course, dears. Come sit at the dining table and I'll go fetch it."

As the odd couple made their way across the sitting room to everyone's open arms Harry could see how rough they were: Percy, pale and trembling, and George, clothes rumpled looking like he hadn't shaved in days. His ears started to buzz. Something wasn't quite right. As Ginny sat back down next to him, he struggled to focus on what she was saying. There were too many noises. The hum of the conversation at the table between Percy, George, and their parents. The warbled notes of the radio Charlie had turned back on. Bill's deep throated laugh as Charlie made a crude joke about the terrible voice. Teddy's whining as Andromeda packed him up to leave.

Harry jumped at a sudden loud crack. It was just the back door closing as Arthur went outside for something. He looked to Fleur sitting on the couch sipping tea and they locked eyes, the look on her face meant she could sense it too.

"I'm not fine! Nothing is fine!" George started yelling, flinging his chair back. "How can you say everything is fine when you know it's not true?" His face contorted into a thing of pure rage. "And the rest of you! Going about as if he never existed! As if Fred never mattered!" With one quick motion George swiped his wand from his pocket and with a flick of his wrist started slashing all of Molly's hard work down from the walls. Bill and Charlie jumped up, Bill to wrestle the wand out of his hand and Charlie to restrain the other arm.

"Harry - go get Arthur. Hurry!" Molly pleaded.

There was another crack, but this time it wasn't the back door. George stopped struggling and touched his now red cheek where his sister had slapped him.

"We all miss him, dumbass. Doesn't give you an excuse to be an asshole." Her eyes were fierce and blazing as she stared him down. George slumped out of his brother's arms to the floor. He broke down sobbing.

"I'm sorry. I just miss him. I miss him so much." The rest of the family gathered around George as Arthur discreetly came back in with a small package.

"It's my fault George." Percy, pale, trembling, stepped forward. "I was with him. I should have protected him as his older brother, but I couldn't. He died because I couldn't protect him."

"It's not your fault, Perce." Bill's sharp voice sliced through the air like a knife. "We all knew what we were getting into when we chose to fight. We all knew there was a possibility we could - well."

"We all miss, Fred, love. There isn't a day that goes by that I think of him." Molly's softened demeanor was a much needed balm over them all. She was quite good at that, Harry noted. She took the package from Arthur's arms as she continued. "I made this last year and wasn't sure whether to keep it or not. I'm glad I did. I want you to have it." She handed it to George and carefully pried off the spellotape holding the wrapping together. As it slowly slid off and the contents became visible, George completely lost himself in wracking sobs.

It was Fred's Christmas sweater.

The Weasleys all reached out to hold George as he fell apart in their arms. Harry suddenly felt acutely aware that he was on the outside looking in on a moment meant only for their family. As the awkwardness of the situation settled deep into the pit of his stomach, he looked around for some diversion or any sort of clue what he should be doing. He was quite surprised after scanning the room to see that Fleur was still on the couch, watching the scene as well. She was so unusually quiet that Harry had forgotten she was there. She turned and met his eyes once again before ever so slightly nodding toward the kitchen, getting up and heading that direction. Harry, relieved at being able to do something other than just sit and stare, followed her.

As soon as the door closed behind them, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. Fleur immediately went to a pan of cookies setting on the stove, warming them up with a simple warming charm and setting them aside on a plate.

"I want to help. I just don't know how." He blurted out.

"'Arry... sometimes zer is nothing you can do. People just have to heal on zer own time."

"That's what Charlie said."

She turned back to him, handing him a plate with a glass of milk from the icebox. "The only thing you can do is to just be zer for them." Creaking in the ceiling above made them look up. Harry recognized that sound - the steps of Ginny going up the stairs, whose footfalls were significantly lighter than the cacophony that was her brothers'.

"Go to her."

He nodded in acknowledgement as Fleur held open the door for him.

Harry rapped gently on Ginny's door and it swung open at his touch. The room was swathed in darkness, the only light coming from the moonlight streaming in the window and illuminating Ginny's still form on the bed.

"Go away, Harry. I don't want to see you right now."

"I brought you cookies." He held the plate out as an offering. "Fresh baked."

Ginny snorted. "You are such a liar."

"I learn from the best." He set the cup and plate on the nightstand, before settling on the edge of the narrow bed, the springs of the mattress groaning from the added stress. "What's really wrong, Gin?" Her bangs clung to her wet face as he tried to brush them away with his fingers.

"Don't call me that, you have no right to call me that." She spat out petulantly. After a few moments she turned over to face him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

"It's ok." Harry slid down so that he was lying down next to her, his face close enough to hers that he could make out her softened features in the shadows.

"It's just... it's hard to think that Fred isn't ever going to come back. George won't smile any more. Mum tries to keep us all together, but instead it just feels like we're all drifting apart. You and Ron have your lives sorted out, working for the ministry, and even Hermione knows she wants to work for the office of Magical Law Enforcement. Meanwhile I can barely keep it together as head girl and quidditch captain, and fuck all if I don't know what I want to do when I grow up." Her sharp, derisive laugh pierced the air. "Everything's changing, and I feel like I'm being left behind. I can't stand it. I just want to get off of this ride."

"If you think I have my life together," he whispered against her lips, "then you are sorely mistaken."

He kissed her then, and it wasn't the saccharine kisses they had enjoyed together before. This was something deeper, a longing to be near her, an aching need that she responded to in kind. He could taste the saltiness on her lips and the sweet flowery scent of her hair invaded his thoughts. Soon he was caught up in the delirium of being surrounded by her, the sights and the sounds and the feel of the supple skin of her stomach as his hands wandered under the edge of her shirt - he drew back suddenly, breath ragged. She reached up to cup his jawline and he leaned into her touch. She splayed herself on top of his chest, her head in perfect position to hear his heartbeat as it worked to slow itself down, and soon he could her soft snores. He wanted to stay there all night, was already half asleep underneath her, but didn't want to face all the questions they be on the other side of if he were found here in the morning. He tried to pull back the covers with one hand as he held her upright with the other, and ended up tucking her in more haphazardly than he would have liked. After making sure she was sufficiently snug within the mass of covers, he took in her tiny build one last time.

Charlie was right; as much as he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to use his wand to wave away Ginny's fears and insecurities, all the pain left over from the war. But he knew he would always be there when she needed him.

One day at a time.


End file.
